Welcome!

Welcome to Loom Knitting Help, a site
dedicated to the fiber art of loom knitting. Loom
knitting is an ancient art that has recently seen a
resurgence with the Knifty Knitter and In the Attic
Looms. It has been known by many names throughout
history: frame knitting, rake knitting, ring knitting,
box knitting, bung knitting, spool knitting, reel
knitting, french knitting, loom knitting, knitting in
the round, knitting board. Perhaps even Penelope knit
the Shroud of Laertes on a knitting loom!

Looms were used during the Middle Ages in France,
Britain, Germany and other parts of Europe to knit
tasseled caps, shawls, petticoats, blankets, stockings,
bags, purses, sacks, nets, hammocks and curtains. It's
believed that the apprentices of Guilds knit the carpet
required for their Master on frames (knitting boards)
as well.

Something similar to knitting looms were used by the
Amerindian tribe, Taulipang, of the Roraima Mountains
(between Venezuela, Guyana and Brazil). They used a
separate rod for each horizontal band of the fabric  —
essentially a knitting frame without a base! Other
Amerindian tribes which knitted with rods include the
Arecuna, Macushi, Patamona, the Palikur, Uaça and
Warrau. It is believed that these tribes' discovery of
knitting was not connected with the Eurasian tradition.

Why is loom knitting becoming popular again? It could
be because it's a fast and easy way for someone to get
into knitting. The stitches come out even your first
try. It's also a way for knitters who have mobility
issues such as arthritis or carpal tunnel syndrome to
continue with the craft. Loom knitting and needle
knitting both have their strengths — there's no reason
why you can't do both!

While political lines are often drawn as to the "right"
way to knit, this site doesn't. It does its best to
present information to you and let you decide which way
is best. If several techniques are known, they are
shown. What it does do, though, is try to teach good
loom knitting habits and practices. So, if you're
looking to expand your knowledge beyond the basic
e-wrap stitch, you've come to the right place. Keep us
bookmarked and come back often because we're
continually growing with more hints, tips and
techniques.

I'd like to thank everyone in the knitting community
— from the Arabs who started it all to today's
needle, loom and machine knitters — for the work
you've done in advancing the art of knitting and for
your guidance and inspiration in creating this
website. I hope to pass on the same guidance and
inspiration to others.

Types of Looms

There are three basic types of
looms covered on this website:

The Round Loom. While the loom is called
"round" it can be a circle, triangle, oval, square,
heart, etc. The actual shape is not important, what
is important is that all of the pegs be continuous
with no starting or stopping point. The gauge of a
round loom is determined by the distance between the
pegs so that the further apart the pegs are, the
larger the gauge. For more information on round
looms, see Round Looms & Rakes.

The Rake. The way that you knit on a rake
is the same as the way that you knit on a round loom.
The difference between the two is that a rake is a
single line and the pegs do have a starting and
stopping point. You can only do flat knitting on a
rake. Like a round loom, the gauge is determined by
the distance between the pegs.

The Knitting Board. A knitting board is two
parallel rakes used together to knit across.
Double-knit fabric is created with a knitting
board. The gauge is determined by two different
factors:

The distance between the pegs

The distance between the two rakes

The greater the distance between either creates a
larger gauge.

Because round looms and rakes share much in
common, they will be discussed together on this site.

This Site

The site is broken down into
different sections by the menus at the top. Along the
right side are the topics for each of those sections.
Please visit back often as new information is added all
of the time.

List of projects

Linking to us

Support

Classes

The list of projects you can do on a loom is
endless. Here are some suggestions:

Hats

Bags/Purses

Scarves (tubes or flat)

Cozies

Skirts

Soap mitts

Socks/stockings/slippers

Leg warmers

Mittens

Muffs

Scrunchies

Balls

Pillows

Cowls

Holiday decorations

Blankets/afgans

Shawls

Ponchos

Ruanas

Dishclothes

Sweaters

Belts

Please pass our URL on to anyone you think might
be interested. If you like the site and want to
stick a banner on your website or blog, wonderful!
Please link to the banner from our server. From
time to time, we'll update the graphic.

This site is offered at no charge to the
Internet community and there are no plans to change
this. Financial support to run Loom Knitting Help
comes from Rebecca Novelli of bexnartistry and
contributions from individual members of the loom
knitting community.

Please help keep
this site going!

Very little is made from the Google Ads or book
referrals on this site. Any that has been made
has gone back into the maintenance of the
website. As such, this website is run on a loss
and iis Rebecca's way of giving back to a
supportive community and honoring those who came
before. Rebecca will continue to do this for as
long as she is able.

The banner ads you see in the left sidebar are
not sponsors but main loom & needle knitting
organizations which offer high quality patterns
and instruction. Loom Knitting Help would like to
encourage all loom knitters to become familiar
with them.

Individual, group and party lessons as well as
correspondence courses are offered through
contact form for more
information about scheduling and fees.

Seattle Area Classes & Workshops

There are currently no classes or workshops
scheduled in the Seattle area. Check back often
for updates.